Hello and welcome to I believe in dog.
Is it dogs or dogs? I've done it again.
Amna. Is it plural?
Well, I was about to congratulate you then on the
fact you got it. Then you went hang on, wait, is
it dogs? Dogs, dogs.
It's literally right there at the top of my screen.
It's I believe in Dog Jesus. I need a new host.
Let's start the show. Hello and welcome to I Believe
in Dog. My name is Simon.
And I'm born. And this is the show that will
we talk everything dogs. It'll make you laugh, cry,
invest stocks and tissues and then figure out that your dog is
far more absorbent. We made it to episode 2.
We survived. Almost.
And after spending the entirety of the last episode talking to
our three listeners, we can proudly say we had more than
three. Yeah, I mean that we had 4 but.
I'll take it. It's still an improvement.
So all four of our listeners from episode 1, we are so
grateful. Yeah, and also to the people who
did listen, thank you so much for your Star Wars dog esque.
Thing they were great. Oh my God, some of the the
there's something about a child dressed as a Jedi that just
works. They were good.
Yeah, they were very, very good. I mean, obviously there was.
People went out of their way to kind of, you know, really show
us a love of Star Wars there. And then there's me, just
sticking masks on Bob and terrifying everyone and a half
dodgy picture of Wilson from many years ago actually dressed
as Chewbacca 0I. Took these away.
I I just called my dog Leah that that's enough.
Just the name of the Star Wars character.
I might have to call my next dog.
Actually, that's made me realise Bob's sister is actually.
No it's not. That's a lie because the Ewok is
wicket and she's called cricket, but it rhymes.
It's close enough. It's in a couple of letters.
I don't drink coffee, but I might need one I.
Think you might need something harder than coffee after this
Anyway, Yeah, thank you so much for your submissions and your
emails as well. We've got a couple of emails.
Yes, we did. We had mags with Atticus, and
Atticus does look like an Ewok. He's so cute.
Little fairy little. Cute.
Yeah, and thank you for your lovely words and your e-mail as
well, Mags. I'm just going to read something
out here which really resonates with me because it was the topic
about talking about dogs living in the moment last episode.
And so Mags writes this about Atticus.
One of the things we love most about it was how he lives
entirely in the moment and brings you right there with him.
He recently took him. Sorry.
We recently took him to Bamba Beach.
Have I pronounced that right? Bamba.
Bamba Beach in the northeast. And he was the happiest we've
ever seen him. Just pure joy, soaking up a
beautiful place with his favorite people even closer to
home. He's just a content.
Just as content pottering around, sniffing everything,
wandering happily, and simply enjoying being.
It really does feel like there's so much we can learn from our
dogs about appreciating those small moments of joy scattered
throughout each day. I absolutely love that message.
And that's what. It's about, isn't it with dogs,
really. They teach us so much.
Like. I do canine behavior, so I
should be teaching them things, and I actually I probably
learned more from dogs than I do actually teaching them.
They school you daily. Yes they do.
And you know what it's, it's understanding that teaching as
well, because like part of the reason why I get called out a
lot to work with people, You, you've done it with me as well
that you've got in touch to sort of figure out what was going on
with Noah at that time. And there's so much lost in
translation. I think there's so much about
dogs that we just don't realize that because The thing is, dogs
don't lie. They wear their hearts on their
sleeves. If they like something, they
like something, they don't like it, they don't like it.
And I think as humans, we could kind of, we could learn from
being like that a bit more. I think we put up a facade a lot
of the time and. Sorry, I lost my Internet there.
OK and for listeners who are watching on the video version of
this podcast, you might be wondering why me and Bond have
changed clothes. We had a couple of technical
difficulties after about the 1st 5 minutes.
Was it the second? So we've had to start recording
on a different day. Although Bond has a different
theory, I. Think all lies.
We both built something down our front in that last bit and both
of us our tits are so big they got in the way so we had to
change our jumper. Want to admit it?
Yeah, that I'd, I'd rather blame technology.
Right. Where were we?
Oh, yes. So dogs wearing the hearts on
the sleeves and how we can learn as humans.
I think you were before. Before it crashed.
In the moment, don't they Nothing like promotions.
I believe some people say, oh, don't, but you shouldn't report.
Oh, I can't, please. Yeah, you do that.
But anthropomorphism, do you know what it is?
Is because that lip is numb. I can't actually say that word
now, damn it. I'm going to sound even less
intelligent than I did before that word.
People do that to your dogs. But actually that's taken away
from the intelligence of dogs and that they do feel stuff.
It's just much live in the here and now and something that we
need to do so much more. I think you're absolutely right.
And and The thing is, it's not, it's not human version.
And like dogs have their own emotional ranges and emotional
states. And like I was saying last time
that there's a lot lost in translation because there's
things where others assume, you know, for example, if you've got
a reactive dog that barks or the dogs when you're walking along,
you as the human are getting really embarrassed because
you're like, oh, everyone's looking at me, everyone can hear
my dog bark. Your dog does not care.
It really does not care about being embarrassed, but it's
emotional response is because it's anxious because another
dog's approaching or it's really frustrated and wants to go and
meet that other dog. Always overexcited.
Yeah. Yeah.
Some people will interpret a dog that barks a lot as active, but
sometimes they're just high on life and, like, just telling the
world, aren't they? So yeah.
Yeah. Well, so reactivity, a lot of
people struggle with reactivity and it kind of usually comes
from 2 sort of places. It's either fear and anxiety.
So I don't know what that is. So I want to avoid it or like
you said, it's over excitement and frustration because they
really want to go and see what that thing is.
And you know, 9 times out of 10 dogs are on leads, which you
know, it's never a bad thing because at least your dog is
under control. But because you've got that lead
and your dog is so over excited and really, really wants to go
and see that thing, it seems like it's being aggressive and
but it's just because it wants to get free and just go and say
hello to that dog. Yeah, absolutely.
We were also talking about emails.
We got another lovely e-mail. We did from the lovely Susan
over in Texas and I love Susan. Susan is an absolute stalker of
young Robert out now. She actually.
Robert is bombs by the. Way.
Oh yeah. Bob.
Yeah, Bob. My job.
I call him Robert when he's naughty or Roberto when he's
feeling fancy. He sent a lovely e-mail.
I started loving dogs after my man and I got married.
Fantastic. It's my ex-husband.
It took me years to let him get to have a dog, so well done for
that. Well, having a dog is the only
reason why my wife swiped OK for me on the dating apps when we
first made. Fantastic.
I like that, you know. And Leo was part of the wedding.
You know that my dating app profile picture is me and Wilson
re enacting ET. I've photoshopped him into the
basket and my face and tickets anyway.
If you don't get any matches, sorry Susan.
Back to Susan's lovely e-mail. Sorry.
It was Rottweilers. Amazing choice.
I love Rottweilers. Those heads.
I love a big head. That sounds sorry.
Yes, her. One day I'll grow up.
I won't. That's a lie, Norm.
Which is an even better name. Robert.
That's incredible. So you could yell that name out
of the door after. Cheers.
Oh, I love that, Norm. Yeah.
Started having children and raised all four with different
Rotties. Lovely one chocolate lab and our
grouchy old lady Denarla. Fluffy Princess.
I'm glad you're reading this e-mail and not me.
We're glad I can't even say that word you said before though.
I'm not even going to attempt to pronounce again.
I will say Susan is a lovely cherry person, hence the
stalking of Roberto. Then a dog Instagram account and
saw Smoky Harley Rottweiler, how much I loved them.
So started searching for a breeder for my soul dog Poppy.
We are I'm Poppy. You have to go and stalk Suze
and I will send her your Instagram Simon because Poppy
and and Nada are amazing. And that's where we are.
We moved to Texas for Nada to live her senior years in a
senior home, which it's so full. You get you get to see them out
onto the lake that's in front of them.
Like watch the dogs just sat on the deck.
It's beautiful. It's all she sees.
We live on a lake. Sorry I got no is hers to patrol
and keep safe so I think that's absolutely beautiful.
What a way to live. Yeah, living.
But like, if I had, if I had my way, I would be in a log cabin
in the middle of nowhere, a couple of dogs, maybe a little
small, holding with some animals, and just living out my
hermit life in the middle of nature.
This was how we bonded, wasn't it?
Because that is actually my everyone who knows me will be
sitting there going. But that's Bond's dream, what
you're talking about, Simon. So although I've decided there
is an animal that I want on there, I think I'd said to you
before I want sheep, but I found out that the baby doll sheep is
actually an endangered breed. It's a British breed and they
need more people to have them. And they are very much a pet
sheep to be adding that to the list.
Baby doll sheep. I remember going off on a
complete tangent away from dogs and it's going so sheep related.
I remember I went to like a farm show and I can't remember the
name of the guy, so I won't try and make it up, but he basically
had a dancing sheep show. And it was like this big lorry
that you like open the side of it and it was sort of like a
whole like stage inside the lorry.
And he had like one of different breeds of sheep and like it
would explain, you know, like why they're endangered, what
they were specifically bred for. And it was just like get kids.
And yeah, people who didn't know anything about sheep to
actually, because you just drive on your country roads and you
see a sheep and you just go, oh, yeah, it's a, you know, black
and white sheep. Cool.
But like, he was going into the different breeds and the
different like, wool textures even like did a demonstration on
how to like, share them without hurting them and things like
that. It was you could, you know, like
beekeepers. You could tell this person
really, really loved these animals.
And like even though it was kind of like a sideshow, kind of like
format, it was for the benefit of these.
Different sheep. Yeah, it was great.
Anyway, back to dogs. That that was sheep for a minute
and I nearly started on Guinea pigs then, but we're back to
dogs. Sheep dogs.
We could do sheepdogs and like, find a little way.
To transitioning, which of course was yes.
But you've the talking of show was actually you're off to good
woof this weekend. I'm so excited.
I'm so gutted I went last year and I'll try and make it next
year. I can't make it this year
unfortunately but I will try and make it.
I went last year and for those of you who've not heard of good
wolf or don't know about Good Wolf, it's probably the closest
thing to like Glastonbury for dogs, isn't it really?
When people say what's what's your favorite one?
I'm like this, this is it for me.
It's just the setting is incredible.
The all out is incredible because you want to go around
the whole thing. The activities they have.
I mean, as we know, Robert spent most of his weekend last year in
Fido's Lido, which is yeah, thereby Liz Shuttle mapped
several times. I think I've seen him throughout
this year on the good with social media popping up with his
little furry self. It's just on another level,
obviously architecture, which is the the Dog Architecture
competition, which is judged by Kevin McLeod and others, and an
entry this year for that. Yeah, really excited to see.
I'm a huge Lego nerd if people don't me.
This is why I think you should still get a ticket and come this
weekend because Lego are there and they've done specific things
about dogs. So I think you are missing out.
There's Jelly Cat Hotel, there's Tinger for those who need to
drink to get through it of people.
It's not me honest Fortnum and Mason picnic hairy.
You've got the DHL fastest dog like there is so much to do some
incredible stands this year. I am really really excited
because and it's quite actually quite for not that's completely
the wrong word. Scrap that.
Get that out. It's lovely recording this today
because as you know, rescue is a huge passion of mine and
preservation of of breeds and go today that the whole saver poor
mount year. The dog of the year for
Goodworth is rescue dog, which I am just so Noah has got herself
ready for the parade really to celebrate.
Then obviously I have brand ambassadors and quite a lot of
them are going this year that if people don't know what my brand
is about by the end of this weekend, I've done something
very wrong. My ambassadors are rescued, so
I'm really excited to celebrate that with them this weekend.
So yes, that's why we. Yeah.
And and just piggybacking off what you're saying there, but
like you can't understand the scale and scope of goodwill
until you go. It is so big.
And what I loved about it when I was there because obviously part
of like my job is I've got to do my due diligence and you know,
sort of like safeguarding and make sure dogs are looked after
and all this. And it's probably the one dog
event I've been to recently that just ticks all the boxes.
Like there's water stations everywhere.
There's people who can look after your dog if you need to go
and do things like that. There is literally everything.
Imagine there's, you know, bark textures, you know, does home
interior designed for dogs. There's clothing for dogs and
people. It's free of Hound.
We forgot about Ministry of Hound that there's.
Just so there's a DJ that's oh, there's just so.
And obviously there's celebrities and.
There is, yes. Where?
It's just search. Experience gets shy.
But yeah, Bon has a stall there where you'd be soiling all your
bits and pieces. Are both Bob and Noah going with
you? And like you said, soiling all
your bits. I mean extra service.
I do not to tell people about. That's for the Patreon.
Listeners, listeners. Yeah, Patreon listeners.
Tell me, did he say selling or soiling?
Because I think he said soiling. Freud's Bob and Neville.
Transfer this when I'm editing it.
Soiling. I want a screenshot.
I want that. That's dying not to tell anyone
about that yes we'll of course be there yeah well I wasn't on
my stand last year but this year I have some incredible as with
means that anyone who's been to other shows this year who's met
Boo Boo and Marley the other two chow chows they're also going to
be with us. So we have like we're going to
have a lot of fun and we're very much celebrate and rescue dogs
on the stand this year. I'm excited.
I. I love that and and I think
there's this big argument of like adopt, don't shop and then
or like, you know, get a breed because you know, you kind of
can expect what you know what you're expecting when you like.
For example, with me getting a German shepherd, I know the
breed, so I know roughly what I'm getting when I got strudel,
but obviously layers a rescue and I think it's having a nice
balance of both. It's.
Yeah, I, we won't because I've got one who came from a breeder
because I needed a dog that would support Noah and I have
Noah who was going to be euthanized.
I think what people need to remember is dogs being in rescue
isn't down to breeding itself. It's down to the fact we need
better regulation of breeding, which is being fought for at the
moment. We also into regulation of
rescue as we know from what happened a year ago today.
And that was in that I've very much been involved in in the
last year campaigning for and that conversation.
Now moving forward, what we don't need in all of that and a
bit of the conversation that gets missed and in my role as
part of the Chinese Chow Club for the UK is something I bought
the tears with is the Gen. public actually need to educate
themselves better on what to do when going to buy a dog.
We're still very much impulse fires when it comes to dogs and
we go with the most visible breeders and particularly in the
charity world, the good ones. You won't find them on social
media. They are pub breed clubs.
They have to avoid vote of ethics.
They all have returned to breeder policies.
There are see little things and I sorry I go on about it.
Oh no, no, it's really. Important information, such
important thing. It's Bob's breeder.
I mean, I have a relationship with both the person who owns
his dad and his breeder, a relationship with them and his
breeder actually one of the dogs and the litter and was changing
the family circumstances and at almost two years old, breeder
said, Yep, take us straight back.
There is none of this note in that sense.
So need to start pushing for and the general public can be a big
part of that because if when you go to look at a dog, you say can
I see mum, can I see dad? What is their provenance?
What is their history will return to breed a policy because
they don't end up in rescue. And this is where, you know,
there's that argument because there are breeds and she kind of
one of those we're having less and less puppies born.
So there is a danger, you know, the genetic diversity as well
can become an issue. So it is important that they are
still bred. Also important that you go to a
breeder who says no to you on some things.
Because where we're seeing a lot more coming in to rescue and
we're seeing that with chows. It's where they're placed in
homes that probably aren't suitable or people are being
given 2 puppies from the same litter, which is not something
we want to be seeing. Or a few people who asked for a
boy chow puppy. It was their first, one of them,
their first dog. And I always say this and I
laugh when I. Say dog.
Ended up with was a girl chow, which you know, I say I love
Noah to pieces, but if I had had Noah first, I'd never have
another chow. Boys are easier.
They they want to please you, they love you.
Girl chows don't give a shit what you think stubbornness, but
they also have a high level of wilfulness and they can be
challenging that I adore. Don't don't take that the wrong
way, but not that the general public can be doing to kind of
help push towards better ethics within breeding.
Because if you're demanding better breeders, you're not just
and some that are on things like pets for homes.
That's not a measure of whether or not they are.
It's things like have I seen mum and Dad C registered because we
get a lot of people saying, oh, my dog is DWKC registered and
I'm like, that's not, you know, that's a Markov.
That's a dog that actually doesn't fit the breed standard
under the Kennel Club and the breed standards there are for a
reason. We see it a lot in chows.
Obviously colours that aren't the standard colours that are
being bred public don't understand the that because they
just see a pretty dog, you know, to Merle's people think it's
amazing. Yeah, I was going to piggyback
on this, like, you really hit the nail on the head with like
people by popular breeds at the time as well.
Like, you know, I'm sure when 101 Dalmatians came out
originally, like there was a spike in people getting
Dalmatians without knowing a single thing about the Dalmatian
breed. Or, you know, like Lassie, the
amount of rough collies that would have appeared because
Lassie was this amazing collie and never thought, Oh yeah, I
can do that. And you still see it today.
You know, there's a lot of like dog trainers and dog
professionals out there who've got like a Malinois and fine.
Yeah, that person is more than qualified to deal with a great
dog, will do everything you want it to do if you know how to
handle it and you can do it right.
And if you're a trainer who can dedicate that much time to it.
Joe Bloggs, who works 8 1/2 hours in an office and decides
to get a Malinois and leave at home all day, then comes home
and wonders why the house is absolutely trashed.
It's because that dog needs so much more than just a general
companion. You know, it's, it's it's a tool
more than a dog. And people, people go, oh, well,
they trained their dog really well, so I'll get a Malinois and
that means my dog will be really good.
And they're just not. Doing the research, they're not
doing the training for it. And like, you know, like you're
saying, there's a lot of dogs coming out now with genetic
defects because they're being bred for a certain look or.
Human greed and selfishness to me because Noah's back story is
the breeder was trying to breed a lilac Merle.
Breeders that are breeding these fashion colours, they're not
doing the genetic testing to at least make sure they're doing it
safely. There isn't A and just because.
Visually it's got, it's got the one the desired aspects they're
missing out on all the genetic defects that could be coming
along with, you know, heart conditions.
Care publicly The downside? How many die before they're a
year old? And that's why we'll always talk
about Noah. She has no eyes.
She was born with eyes, but they she was blind, they were borned.
And she was less than 18 months old.
She had to have both eyes removed and to have some leg
surgery as well. And we don't know what her
lifespan will be because there is malformation in the compass
skull and she's a menace and she's living a full life.
And I love that for her, but shouldn't be having that happen
just because humans like the colour of a dog.
You wouldn't if you, if I said to you, you could have, let's
say you wanted to have children, you can have these children and
they have this really rare hair colour.
But if you have them that way, they might be born with, with
deformities, they might be blind, they might they might die
young, they might not cope in this world.
We wouldn't do it. And dogs don't have a voice to
say, please don't do this to me. So, and I've always people
who've met me at shows will know if you've got a dog that is a
non standard colour, often you've probably been duped by
the breeder because they are unscrupulous because it's about
money to them. It's not about the love of a
breed. It at the end of the day when
people say they love chows and then they talk about their breed
and you know, genetically testing to make sure that there
isn't, you're not breed double male gene to a double male gene
like that. Because if you are doing that,
then at least you're trying to do it safely.
But I know people who have these dogs because I do think that
more often than not, there are some people that are an
exception to the rule and get them on purpose to build a big
social media following. And I think that's something
that is not OK. But in general terms, as humans,
we need to do better by dogs by saying that's full, but it's
not. I want a dog that is here
because it's it's healthy and that's the important thing.
And I again, like you, say the right home with the Malinois.
I love Marley and Boo Boo come to shows with us, as well as Bob
and Noah because you've met Bob and Noah and Boo Boo very much
your typical chows and they necessarily want you to touch
them. So people will come to the stand
and see Marley and Boo Boo sat out the front and go Oh my God.
And we say they want you to. But if you go in there, there
are two that are broken and they you pet them.
And it's important because. The Lust and found box at the
back of your store. Used to you have that
conversation and be honest and say yes chows look like a teddy
bear that came to life but that's who they are.
Like I'm the huge version. I've got a lovely round face and
look like I'm really friendly. I'm an asshole and I hate people
jealously. And that's The thing is I, I
can't agree with you more on this.
And it's like with when people don't understand what they've
got in front of them, whether it's, you know, they've just
bought a curly haired Frenchie or something like that.
You know, they've gone for whatever's trendy and they've
not done the research, then they're stuck with this dog that
they don't know what to do. It's they're having loads of
issues. You know, it's part of the
reason why I get called to a lot of cases is because they just
don't know what they're doing because they've just gone for
the dog that looks pretty. And then, you know,
unfortunately, a lot of these dogs that don't get the help
that they need end up in rescues.
And it's why rescues are getting so overwhelmed.
That's because people are buying these dogs.
They're not doing the research. They're not understanding what
they need to, you know, dogs are a huge, regardless of the breed,
they're a huge responsibility for at least, you know, like
10-15 years of your life. You have to give everything to
this dog because it needs you to do things.
And if you can't give it what it needs, you have to give it up.
And then when you give it up, it fills up the rescue centres.
And then the rescue centres are getting overwhelmed because
there's more and more people making daft decisions.
If I'm being honest and just buying a dog for the sake of
getting a dog without doing the research, the rescues are
overwhelmed and then know what's going rescuing those dogs
because they, you know, they'll see an Excel bully or obviously
not now, but you know, they'll see like a Staffie or a Malinois
or a German Shepherd or a Rottweiler and you go, Oh no, I
don't want that. I want, you know, I want a
puppy. The amount of people that go to
rescues expecting there to be just like a buffet of puppies
that they can just pick up and it's not the case.
You know, there's senior dogs that need rescuing and having a
home or, you know, there's dogs that through no fault of their
own, like you were saying before, you know, they had to
give it back to the breeder because the life circumstances
have changed. And that's absolutely fine, but
they need the chance as well. You know, that dog's not in the
rescue center because of it's done anything wrong.
It's in the rescue center because it's circumstances have
changed, but because people won't give it the chance and
they much rather go, Oh yeah, no, forget that.
I'll just go get a puppy instead.
And then these poor dogs are just spending the rest of their
lives and rescues just waiting for someone to pick them.
And there's nothing wrong with these dogs.
Actually, I think, yeah, I just think we need to start saying
it's not necessarily down to breed.
There has to be a middle ground because breeding is essential.
There are some breeds where we could do with a couple of years
of not breeding them, but there are breeds that will need that.
And it's not about breeding itself.
It's about the general public educating themselves, becoming,
you know, saying this is what I need and this is what, Because
also I've always said this, there are circumstances under
which you can't rescue. I foster human children for 17
years, give them back. You can't foster a dog that
stays after a day. But we could never, we could
never have rescue dogs. We had to have dogs that were
from a breeder that we knew and got to know that we knew both
mum and dad. We had everything, you know, a
report on behaviour and everything else because that was
an important part. And and there will be people for
whom that is an essential thing for them and we shouldn't be
making them feel bad for that at the end of the day.
No. And you can go the other way as
well. Like I've got a client who's
absolutely fantastic. She's got an Irish wolfhound
puppy. I think it's just over four
months old now. And even before she got the
puppy, she contacted me and she was like, I know it's a large
breed. Like she's had dogs all the
life. Like she's a very well
experienced dog owner and she's had great dogs all the way
through, but it's like it's a giant breed that she's never had
before. She knows they've got their own
quirks and sort of like behavioral quirks and you know,
physiological quirks and things like that.
And she contacted me it good month or two before she even got
the puppy just to make sure she was set up and ready to go.
And she, she's managed to hit the ground running and now she's
got this four month old puppy that is absolutely fantastic,
huge, but absolutely fantastic. And it's because she's done her
due diligence and, you know, put the research in first.
And she, you know, she embraced that, you know, we're not all
perfect. Even me as a canine
professional, like I'm not perfect with every single breed.
You know, I'm not going to be able to know how to handle every
single thing. I handle the dog that's in front
of me depending on the situation and if even if I'm having to do
my own research as well to make sure I'm getting it right.
Of course, people who are buying these puppies need to do their
research because if I'm having to do the work, you definitely
need to do the work. Well, we don't go into having
children and just like how many books do people read before they
come along? How much do they worry about all
of that? And the great thing is a lovely
story. Again, child related.
Sorry, that is my breed. But we had a family who came to,
I think it was one of Wilson's fine UPS or it was maybe Noah's
first birthday. And they came because they'd
love Chows for years and to get one, but they wanted to learn
all about them first. And they literally spent a year
coming to events through the breed club and through meetups
that we have, getting to know everyone.
And then they've got their puppy and he's incredible, He's
lovely. He's a year old now.
But like they deal with that first and it shows because their
boy is just a really well-rounded, again, like Bob,
he's very social, he's a great little lad.
And you just think this is care and attention.
They're not possessions. I know under the law they're
still possessions but like do have personalities and needs
just like we do and who choose to meet those.
You will have a great dog. I've got a one of my does is a
Belgian Malinois and. Yeah, exactly.
She actually was a rescue. She'd come from horrific
circumstances for the first eight months of her life, so
you'd have to be a challenging dog.
She's so lovely and it is down to the fact that the person who
has her has put in the work. She and you would and think
that's not what I expect to build in the Malinois to behave
like because she's very loving, very sweet.
She plays with Noah. You've seen here, haven't you?
She plays with Noah beautifully, but it's because her human being
has chosen to put in the work for her to be the dog she should
be. And that is such an important
point. Like it's the humans that have
to be the advocate for the dogs. Because The thing is, at the end
of the day, you know, as much as we anthropomorphize our dogs, at
the end of it, they are an animal.
And like, we need to go, right? We have this literally they're
one step away from a wild animal being inside our house.
And if they're not getting what they need, of course they're
going to act out in ways because they're getting frustrated
because they're not having a fulfilled life.
You know, if so, going using strudel as an example again.
So she's a germ Shep. If she wasn't doing some form of
like tug and, you know, biting her toys and playing wrestling
with me, she'd be taking that out on something else, whether
that's the skirting boards or a person or and just doing even
just the basic research of go right.
What does this dog need? You know, is it a herding dog?
Right. OK, so it needs some sort of
herding for yeah, yeah. If it's a a sight hound, you
know, get it chasing after a toy or something, you know, like a
flirt pole or something like that.
If it's a scent hound, you know, like a Bloodhound or a Beagle or
something like play, find it, you know, hide and seek with all
the treats and things that you need to find out what that
specific dog breed was bred for. And then it, and it doesn't have
to, you know, I'm not saying use a dachshund to go and hunt
badges, but, you know, have tunnels and tit yeah, duvets and
things like that. So they can hide under it, you
know, like do something that appeals to the natural nature of
what they were bred for. Because, you know, these these
breeds have been around a lot longer than we have as
individuals, you know, hundreds of years we're talking.
And they've been very good at it.
I'm not laughing at you. Who?
Is that Noah? She's punching me in the leg.
She. Wants some attention and if I
don't do that I'll have no skin on my shins within the next 5
minutes. For those of you who aren't
watching on the video version, nowhere the Chow has decided to
climb onto buns. I can just about see bombs.
Oh, there's Bob in me as well. Bob's just appeared as well.
They must have heard their names and came over.
So where was the oh, yeah, oh, but yeah, just, you know, basic
fulfilment needs of what the dog was bred for.
And find a way that that works into your everyday life and
you'll find that, you know, you're going to have a better
adjusted dog. Well, all around because it's
natural instincts and natural drives have been ticked rather
than it just being a good obedient dog you want it to be
living its best life as possible.
People see Bob and Nur at all these events so think they must
be constantly socialised but the reality is because they're
traverted breed and I'm an introverted human, in between
those it's just us at home chiller and go and sit in the
garden because obviously they were in the Chinese mountain.
They are a garden breed so they like to sit outside and see
what's going on and it were them because then they.
Yeah, some people who get a Husky and they go, why is my
Husky pulling on the lead? It's designed to pull that.
That dog has been bred to do one thing.
But yeah, and I think that's one thing.
I really stressed it with my clients and just with people in
general. Like, do your research.
If you're going to buy a puppy, fine.
No one's going to judge you for it.
But do your research. Just just it just take a couple
of hours across a few weeks and don't just, you know, like you
said, don't impulse buy a puppy just because you've seen one.
Don't just log on to whatever puppy buying websites and go
it's a cute golden retriever I'm going to get that.
Like learn what a golden retriever is for, learn what it
was bred for, learn the quirks, learn the pitfalls of having
one, learn the benefits, and just learn the breed inside and
out before you even get one and you'll find that you'll have a
much better adjusted dog throughout his life.
Breeders bamboozle you with all this is champion lines and this
that and the other because often those champion lines might be
several generations back and have no bearing on your current
dog. Also buying your dog to go in
the ring because you'll probably not, in which case that doesn't
matter. But also if they tell you that
some health issues are normal within a breed, don't just sit
and take that because I know with chows people say oh, hip
DL, but actually it's not something that should be within
the breed. It's actually down to the fact
that a lot of people don't test and we're getting it happen more
and more, but it's not normal. You know, the things often see
in many breeds is something like entropion, which you guard
against entirely. But in something such as a chow,
you can kind of think about how the the are built and it may
impact whether or not they develop something like that.
So there's lots of little things that you as a the general public
can be thinking about. Yeah, and especially because
like. We should do a post on our
Instagram, sort of the top questions to kind of ask when
going. We could do that, couldn't we?
Me and you could put our heads together on that for sure.
Absolutely, and it's even like little things like, you know,
there are people out there who are dog breeders as their
profession, which is absolutely fine, but look at how many
litters they're pumping out here and things like that.
Like do you research into the breeder as well as the breed?
Because if, and don't be afraid to say no, really.
Like I know it's heartbreaking when you see these puppies and
you go, well, if I don't get it, this no one's going to get the
puppies. Like it's going to work out
worse for everyone involved, No? That puppy in that scenario,
like you are still a consumer. I'm just going to pop this one
down and. And yeah and I think that's
really important. Like a lot of just that are
breeding for health and preservation of breeds.
They don't breed that often so you'll be asked to go on a
waiting list and they'll you know Bob's breed.
I had a whole host of questions I needed to answer to make sure
that he was coming to the right place.
And because I'd kind of said that I wanted to maybe try and
show the dog because I'd been told that would be a way to bond
with him because I was so worried I wouldn't because of
obviously loving Wilson. And there were two boys in his
litter. And I actually thought the other
one was cuter. And she said to me, no, this one
is going to do better in a ring. You should have him.
And I'll trust her on that because of her experience and
and she puts a lot of thought into how she breeds a dog.
Yeah, yeah. How I know as they've grown up,
although the boys do look similar, I can see why she said
this one. And you know, that's that's a
good breeder who's going to say to you, look, you've said this
specific thing and this is actually what and actually push
you and go. But you if if you go to a
breeder and you say I want a girl or a boy and they push you
to have a girl, that's flag like because you've told them what
your request is. So if they're pushing you to go
opposite sex or, you know, to goo or you know, there are lots
of red flags, but we can definitely do a post about that.
Well, yeah. And it's even things like just,
you know, take the time to go and see the litter before you
even consider putting a deposit down.
Every respectable breeder will let you see the puppies from a
certain point. I think it's about sort of like
four or five weeks. Or something like that, yeah.
And just go and have a look at the whole litter.
Don't just go well, I've seen this one online, so I'm just
gonna go for that one. You know, unless it's like, for
example, you want a female and there's only one female left in
the litter. OK, yeah, fine.
But if, if you, if you're not sure of what you want from the,
you know, whether you don't know a boy or a girl or colors or
whatever, just go and see and just see what the like
interacting with each other, interacting with mum, you know,
so the breeder who I got strudel of like she used to play
fireworks and Thunder sound effects and things like that
when they, who were, you know, 3-4 weeks old.
So, and you know, she had grandkids who were coming in and
like playing with the puppies. And so they were so well
conditioned, so well socialized before I even picked strudel to
like put my deposit down on. I was like, oh, all these
puppies are really well adjusted.
Videos of Bob when he was like maybe 3 weeks old on the table
and she's telling him he's handsome and he's like this.
But obviously we all know he still does that now.
But she was prepping him for like, being good to be on a
table, to be brushed. Yeah, there's things they do and
I think just check they're on, they're connected to any breed
clubs is always a good thing because most breeders who are
going to do it well, they will have a connection somewhere.
They may not be a member of one, but they will have connections
to those. Yeah, absolutely.
And and and most of the time like could do some digging on
the Breeders. I'm like, see what their history
of dogs is like. So for example, again, using
Strudel as an example, again, like the Brit, she's had nothing
but German shepherds her entire life.
Like when we went into a home, she's got pictures of all the
previous dogs and previous like, you know, and, and I like the
fact when breeders do, you know, like they'll make a WhatsApp
group chat or something for everyone who's taking a puppy
from that so they can stay in touch.
And it's so the breeder can see that the puppies that they've
sold are actually going to good places.
It's a really nice way for them to stay updated.
Other and sisters, like I know where they all are and what's
going on with them and and you know, and yeah, I get babies.
So I get to see his nephews and nieces crazy because it's dogs.
But actually I'm like, I love this.
And actually then we've become friends with the people who have
the babies of the and you're like, this is incredible.
Like this is what it should so crazy like.
Natural communities, doesn't it? Because it's fantastic, but that
also shows you the the work of the breeder that that those
things happen because they create an environment in which
they they want that to be there. They care about the long term
being of the their dogs, which is.
And just in case there are breeders listening as well, just
so it doesn't sound like we're bashing breeders constantly.
No. But but but like breeders, don't
be afraid to say no to people as well.
Like, I know it can be quite tempting, you know, especially,
you know, because it's a considerable amount of money
when you're buying a puppy these days, just across the board is
quite expensive. But and I know the temptations
just go, oh, that's money at the end of the day.
So yeah, I'll sell a puppy. But don't be afraid to say no to
people. If you're getting a bad feeling
from someone or, you know, you can tell that this puppy is not
going to be where you'd want it to be.
Don't be afraid to say no to these people.
Like you've got every. Right.
Saying that. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Because at the end of the day it's something that you've put
time and love. People don't realise that before
people even have a litter, they're spending thousands of
pounds. If they're doing health testing,
prepping stuff they have to have savings for.
If AC section is needed, then there's 8 weeks of.
I looked up a bit of puppies for a Duff last year 4 weeks old and
it put me didn't ever it worked like you have to have respect
for those that putting in the work for that for sure.
You got to think when you take a 810 week old puppy home, like
the amount of times you're up in the night to make sure it goes
out to the toilet, you know, you're constantly at every hour
you're doing something with this puppy.
Now multiply that by several and you've got to look after a
postpartum mother as well. Like, yeah, you're looking
across the board like it's a lot of work.
It's a hell of a lot of work. Expect for those that do that,
like that. And again, that's a reason not
to just start breeding your dog because people tell you your
dog's pretty and you, you know, it, it takes thought and and I
will say there are some incredible breeders out there.
It's not that every breeder is. There are really good breeders
out there who care deeply about the health and well-being of
their dogs and the preservation of their breed.
Yeah. And, and you know, likewise
there's rescue centres that really do care and really do and
you know. Noah's rescue, I've actually,
one of them had commented saying, oh, we're coming to
Goodriff on Sunday, so we'll see you there.
And I've kept in contact with them throughout and it's, it's
lovely when you have that, that's a sign of a good rescue.
It's one that tell these of their dog.
Well, you've seen their stuff, haven't you?
There were dogs that have been rehomed 1015 years ago and they
still get updates on what those dogs are up to.
And I think that's a really good thing.
Yeah. And I think what it boils down
to at the end of the day is do your research.
Buying a puppy over getting a rescue.
Neither's better than the other. It's all down to your individual
circumstances. What you want from it.
Like do you want a companion? Do you want a hiking friend?
Do you want something that'll just sit in the corner of a pub
with you? Do you want a protection dog?
You're like look into all these sort of things that you want
from your dog. Do the research 1st and then
weigh up like weighing up whether you get a rescue, a
puppy is probably the latter steps of before you actually get
the dog. Like do everything 1st and then
you know, if there's a, you know, have a look if, if you
want a German Shepherd and there's a German Shepherd at a
local rescue, have a look at that German Shepherd and see if
you can offer it. You know, if it's been rehomed
for no fault of its own, you know, it's not a bite risk and
anything like that. Maybe you can give that German
Shepherd a good, you know, good few years of happiness just by
giving it a home and then and then get a puppy afterwards.
You know, if you've got an older senior dog, you know, wait until
that dog's older and then get, you know, we did this with
layer. So layers just turned 10 years
old and I wanted to get a puppy around the time she turns 10
because as morbid as it sounds, realistically, I know I've not
got years and years and years and years and years left with
layer, but I want that transition phase of because
layer is so good. I want her to teach strudel
stuff as well. So that's why I wanted to get
him at this sort of age where layers young enough to teach
strudel stuff but not be overwhelmed by her being a puppy
as well. And then, and then I can and
then once strudel, sorry, once Leia's passed away, I can focus
everything into strudel. But I know that she's done all
the preliminary work anyway. So neither is better than the
other. They, you know, loads of rescues
need rescuing. Loads of puppies need buying.
Pick what works for you, but just do your research.
Please do your research before you make the.
Display Yeah, exactly. It is kind of Yeah, I.
Think that's a good place to end today?
I know. He had besides the conversation
as well. Yeah, apart from that, like
that. But yeah, I'll tell you what,
listeners, if you want to send in your stories of rescues or
getting puppies, you know, good and bad stories, you know, it
does happen. There's been situations where
I've gone to get a rescue and I've been like, no, this isn't
for me there. Tell us your no stories as well
as your yes stories. Like we want to know what?
Yeah, if everyone's being responsible, basically.
And tell us success stories. If you've had a rescue and
you've gone on to have a fantastic life with your rescue,
or if you bought a puppy and it's turned out absolutely
fantastic, please let us know. You know, if it's worked the
other way and you've bought a puppy that you thought was going
to be this wonderful thing and it turned out something else,
let us know. Because it happens.
Life does happen. It's just we can only do as much
as we can just to make sure it doesn't happen.
So I'd love to hear the stories, both good and bad, from people.
If they want to write in and Jeff keep sending Star Wars
docs, why not? That can be a year round thing
that doesn't just need to be the start of May.
Let me tell you. And I want to thank the people
who on my sent messages with concern after my Yoda video game
person on Facebook who said whatever's wrong with you don't
get it fixed. Amazing.
Yeah. Don't ever fix it, bum.
Don't ever. Fix.
I think that another year older next week.
I don't think that's going to happen.
We'll see. Yeah.
Thank you for listening, guys. And join us again in two weeks
time for Episode 3. In two weeks time.
We will, We do. We've not, we've not confirmed.
We're not revealing you, but we have got exciting guests lined
up. We've got some very exciting
guests, actually very, very exciting guests and some guests
that you probably would never expect.
Lovely stuff, right? See you all in a couple of
weeks.